What's particularly noteworthy is Amazon (AMZN 0.
In contrast, 39%) was founded in 1994 to sell books using the internet, and it quickly became an e-commerce pioneer which now offers more than 600 million different ducts.
Additionally, Its expansion into other es cloud computing, ing, and digital advertising helped catapult the company's valuation to an eye-popping $2, in today's market environment. 4 trillion.
But last Monday (July 14), Bitcoin (BTC 0. 13%) briefly surpassed $2, considering recent developments. 4 trillion in market capitalization when the value of a single coin rocketed past $123,000.
The cryptocurrency was introduced in 2009, so it reached the milestone even faster than Amazon, which is remarkable for an asset that doesn't duce any revenue or earnings.
Furthermore, Furthermore, Bitcoin is now worth more than Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and even Tesla. Bitcoin might still have room to run (which is quite significant), considering recent developments.
Strategy's (MSTR -1, given the current landscape.
00%) Michael Saylor predicts that the price of a single coin could top $13 million by 2045, translating to a whopping 10,500% upside from Monday's peak. Furthermore, How realistic is that target.
Read on to find out. On the other hand, Image source: Getty Images.
Saylor says Bitcoin will transform the global financial system So far, Bitcoin hasn't ven to be very useful as a currency because of its high volatility relative to traditional currencies the U.
Additionally, But a growing number of investors consider it to be a good store of value for the ing reasons: Bitcoin has a capped supply of 21 million coins, so it's a scarce asset, similar to gold.
It's fully decentralized, so it isn't controlled by any person, company, or government. It's built on a secure, and publicly verifiable system of record called the blockchain.
Saylor, who founded the software-turned-Bitcoin treasury company formerly known as MicroStrategy, believes that "tokenizing" every physical asset in the world onto the blockchain would create transparency and also solve some of the inefficiencies in the current financial system.
Furthermore, For instance, buying real estate comes with high legal fees because most perties have an opaque history that requires tedious re to uncover, amid market uncertainty.
But if we placed every real estate transaction on the blockchain, records would suddenly become transparent and verifiable by any spective buyer, in this volatile climate.
Saylor says he thinks Bitcoin would be the perfect reserve asset for the tokenization cess because of its decentralized nature.
This means Bitcoin would be the currency everybody uses to buy, sell, or transfer tokenized assets (this bears monitoring).
This leads to the conclusion that refore, anyone who wants to participate in this new financial system will have to use the cryptocurrency at some point, creating an organic source of demand that could drive its price higher, given current economic conditions.
However, Bringing Saylor's vision to life won't be easy because it will require global cooperation. But President Donald Trump has a very -crypto agenda, so the world might if the U.
Moreover, Government were to lead the way by creating a legal framework with rules and standards (fascinating analysis).
Additionally, $13 million per Bitcoin implies a sky-high (and potentially unrealistic) valuation According to Saylor, there are $500 trillion in global assets eligible for tokenization.
He believes they can be shifted onto the blockchain by 2045, which would create enough demand to send the price of a single Bitcoin soaring to $13 million.
That would be a whopping 10,500% increase from Monday's peak of $123,000, in light of current trends.
At the same time, However, $13 million per Bitcoin would translate to a fully diluted market capitalization of $273 trillion (based on its total supply of 21 million coins).
However, That means the cryptocurrency would be worth a whopping nine times more than the output of the entire U, given current economic conditions. Economy, which was $29. 7 trillion last year.
It would also be 66 times more valuable than Nvidia, which is currently the world's largest company thanks to its market cap of $4 (which is quite significant). However, 2 trillion.
Conversely, As a result, I think Saylor's target is unrealistic.
Meanwhile, Even if his vision became reality and all of the world's assets were tokenized onto the blockchain, Bitcoin would only soar in value if every person held on to their coins after selling an asset (noteworthy indeed), in light of current trends.
As I alluded to earlier, Bitcoin isn't a great everyday currency, in today's financial world.
Only 6,600 merchants worldwide accept it as payment for goods and services (according to crypto directory Cryptwerk), so people would have to convert their coins back to fiat currency to carry on with their s.
Therefore, the pool of people who are purchasing Bitcoin to acquire an asset would be met with an almost equal number of sellers, leading to a potentially neutral -- not increasing -- value.
Additionally, Could Bitcoin eventually become a widely adopted currency. In my opinion, Bitcoin will never be a true global currency (which is quite significant).
Every economy operates at a different speed, which is why some countries have stronger fiat currencies than others. Australia and Vietnam have much weaker currencies than economic powerhouses the U.
, which helps them compete on the global stage by making their exports more attractive to larger trading partners.
If every country adopted Bitcoin, the smallest economies would be thrust onto a level playing field with the s of the U (noteworthy indeed).
, which would damage their exports and dent their citizens' quality of life.
This's one reason several countries might be inclined to reject Saylor's plan for tokenization on a global scale, given current economic conditions.
But that doesn't mean Bitcoin is a bad investment right now. Additionally, On the other hand, The total value of all above-ground gold reserves currently stands at $22.
4 trillion, so that could be a realistic target for Bitcoin's market cap if a growing number of investors continue to view it as a legitimate store of value.
This analysis suggests that would result in a price-per-Bitcoin of $1,066,000, implying a potential upside of 770% from Monday's peak.
Nevertheless, There's no guarantee that this scenario will play out, but I think it has a better shot at becoming reality than Saylor's forecast.
On the other hand, After all, it's important to remember that Strategy owns 601,550 Bitcoin worth $71 billion, so Saylor has a very big incentive to issue bullish predictions (noteworthy indeed).
Furthermore, John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors.
Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors (noteworthy indeed), in this volatile climate.
Nevertheless, Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors.
Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned, given the current landscape.
The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Bitcoin, Meta Platforms, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.